Rich Lewis is the latest addition to ‘caveman battle doom’ power trio Conan, and his brutal, vicious drumming is absolutely on par with their established sound. We managed to grab him for five minutes before their pre-Halloween gig at the Underworld, Camden for a quick chin wag.
HTF: It’s your first UK Show with Conan; Do you feel like you bring any different energy to the band from your past experiences, or do you feel so familiar with the Conan sound you can slot right into it? Any pre-show nerves?
RL: My playing is obviously quite different, I’ve played a lot of different types of metal and different types of music over the years. But I don’t want to deviate too much from what Paul [O’Neill] left because the fans go mad for that. I try and emulate but when I get carried away I do tend to improvise a bit.
After the first few shows nerves kind of faded for me. After the first six or seven shows I felt I got a little bit more … I wasn’t having to concentrate as much. I’m sure the nerves will creep back a little bit tonight as I haven’t done that many [gigs] in the grand scheme of things.
HTF: Were you a big Conan fan before you joined the band?
RL: Yeah, all my mates have always been massive fans and I’d seen them a few times. Couldn’t think of a more exciting band to get a message from really.
HTF: You’re a fairly active band on social media, Facebook etc. Do you feel social media is a positive tool for a band to use to get in touch with their fanbase?
RL: Absolutely, yeah. I personally don’t do any of that for Conan, Jon [Davis, Vocals/Guitar] handles it all himself, but I see the posts coming up in my news feed and they certainly seem to get around everyone I know. I imagine it’d be a pretty tricky job to do without social media.
HTF: Speaking of social media, a fan has recently started a petition to get you to play on Conan O’Brien. Do you reckon it’ll come to anything?
RL: I did actually see that the other day. I’d go for that, fingers crossed! I’ve no idea how many signatures you’d need to get that kind of pull. I signed it! (laughs)
HTF: You’ve announced that your plans for 2015, aside from a few festival appearances, will mainly be writing and recording the next record. Have you got any riffs you’re already working on? Do you aim to go into the studio with stuff nearly finished, or do you let stuff evolve naturally during the recording process?
RL: There’ll be a summer UK tour as well, but as you say it’s mostly festivals. The band’s previous experience has been to jam in private. It’s certainly by no means finished when it gets into the studio, it’s a work in progress. Chris [Fielding, Bass/Vocals] was the producer the last time the band was in the studio so he’d add his input. This time, I have no idea how it’s gonna be because the producer is in the band (laughs). We’ve not jammed any new material as of yet, the plan is to do that in a few weeks. So it’s a completely open book so far. We’re gonna do it pretty quick, I think. With the new line up we’ve all got a lot to say, I think that will generate quite a lot of material.
HTF: Is being in the studio and recording tracks going to be a new experience for you?
RL: Chris actually recorded my other band Intensive Square. We went to his studio in Wales, recorded there, by the time we were ready to mix he’d moved to Skyhammer [studios]. I’ve had a fair bit of studio experience, I’ll be comfortable.
HTF: Speaking of Intensive Square, have you got any releases in the pipeline with them?
RL: We’ve done home demos and stuff before, but this is the first professional piece we’ve done. It’s called ‘Anything That Moves’. It’s not really any kind of genre, we’re influenced by Pantera and Meshuggah. People hear the word ‘Meshuggah’ and assume we’re a djent band, we’re definitely not that. We have grooves of all tempos, whatever we think sounds heavy. We wouldn’t be out of place on a death metal bill but I wouldn’t want to say we’re death metal because I feel we do more than that.
HTF: Conan is slated for Maryland Deathfest next year. Are you stoked for that? Have you been to the US before?
RL: Yeah of course, absolutely chuffed! I’ve never been before but I’ve always wanted to go.
HTF: You’ve just reissued a split LP with Slomatics and also released [2014 album] Blood Eagle on cassette. Are you all big fans of vinyl and tape? Do you think it’s as or more important than CD or download versions?
RL: I can’t vouch for it’s importance, but we’re all big fans. We all have systems at home. You should have seen the boys on the last tour, they must have spent hundreds of Euros on vinyls. At every gig the first thing they’d do is go and check the vinyl stuff. I’m into it as well but I don’t want to spend that kind of amount. I’ve got a collection at home, I do a lot of secondhand shopping, buying albums for a quid. But we’re all well into it.
HTF: What would you say your favourite vinyl album is that you own?
RL: Oh I don’t know. My most recent purchase was Extreme’s Pornograffiti. Bought that for two quid. I’ve got a lot of my brothers’ older ones from back in the day, like The Sex Pistols. I want to get a heavy metal collection, but you have to buy new for that, and it’s an expensive hobby as it is, so I’m just going in and just picking up random things.
HTF: It seems to be quite ingrained in the subculture at the moment. Do you think that’s a passing trend or something that will always go hand in hand with this kind of music?
RL: Yeah it’s definitely integrated with the vinyl scene. I certainly don’t think it’s a passing trend. I don’t think vinyl’s ever really gone away for a lot of people. I’m 25 so I can’t really say too much on the subject. I don’t think it’s going anywhere, I don’t know how popular it is within other kinds of metal but with doom it seems to go hand in hand.
HTF: With it being Halloween this week, do you guys have any specific plans?
RL: No, might be an excuse for a couple of tins after the show, but we’ll see what Rotterdam has to offer us.
HTF: Are you a fan of the horror film genre or any particular scary films?
RL: Not as much as some people I know. I know Jon’s more of a fan, especially fantasy horror. Personally no, not as much, but I’ve seen a fair few cos all of my mates are well into that.
One of the ones I enjoy the most is Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I’m more into thrillers. The Blair Witch Project made me pretty scared but I was quite young then.
HTF: If you could make any band related new years resolutions, what would they be?
RL: That’s a hell of a question. I dunno, meet up more, play more, write more, strike while the iron is hot, that’s the key really. Don’t let it go cold.
